Handcuff



J. J. MURPHY HANDCUFF June 28, 1927.

Filed Feb. 24. 1924 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS 1 Patented June 28, 1927.

UNITED STATES JOHN J. 'IVIURPI-IY, 0F NGRWIGI-I, CGNIIECTICUT, ASSIGNOB,

eaten? GFFECEE,

BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

. TO PEERLESS EANDGUFF COMPANY, A CGEi-PQRATION'OF -MASSACHUSETTS.

HANDCUFF.

Application filed February 24,1924. serial No. 690,063.

This invention relates to improvements in handcuffs.

The general type of handcuff, with which this invention is concerned, comprises a body or frame, having a fixed arm, and a locking arm usually pivoted to the fixed arm and cooperating therewith to 'form an em brasure forthe wrist. Suitable locking means are provided in the frame, usually in the nature of a key retractible pawl which ment of the locking arm is, however, pre

vented except when the pawl is retracted by i v the key.

, freed from the locking means and brought" For convenience in carrying the handcu'ff,

the locking arm is ordinarily engaged with the locking-means, when the handcuff is not in use, and it is desirable to provide means i locking means.

whereby the locking arm may be quickly released and moved to'open position without resort to the key. One arrangement, heretofore proposed for such purpose, is to make the locking arm completely revoluble so that after it has been moved in one direction into engagement with the locking means, it may by'continued movement m thesame direction. be moved-beyond and into open position. There are, however,

many forms of handcuffs which are so corn structed that the locking arm cannot be completely revolved and this invention is concerned with a means forpermitti'ng di'sengagement of the locking arm from; the locking means without resort to thekey in a different and improved manner and in a manner applicable alike tohandcuifs, wherein the locking arm cannot be completely revolved, and to handcuffs wherein such arm can be completelyrevolved.

The general ob ect of the invention to provide means whereby, after the locking" arm has been moved in one direction into engagement with the locking means, it may ;:by continued movement in the same direc tion, be moved to a position wherein it may be Ireed from the lock ng means and subsequen'tly moved in a reverse direction into open position. The position of the locking arm, 111 which it 18 thus freed from the locking means, is

such that the embrasure afforded by the locking arm and the cooperating part of the frame is smaller thanthe wrist, so that the locking arm can only be released when the handcufi is not in place on the wrist.

(More particularly, it is an object; of the invention to provide means whereby when, the arm is'moved to a predetermined position, it may then be moved substantially radially away from the pawl ofithe locking means andd-isengaged therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to pr ovide, in a handcuif of the general class de-b scribed, a locking arm pivoted to the frame of the handcuff through the intermediary of a link which normally does not move relatively'tothe arm and is positively held from such 'movement while engaged with the lockmeans except at one position, in which the lockingfarm maybe lifted by reason of the link connection to free itself from the Other objects and advant ages, relating to improvements in the construction and, arrangement of parts, will appearin the following description and in the illustrative embodiment of the invention in the accompany ng drawings, in which" Fig l is a front elevational view of a V hannripf embodying the invention, certain V g ,brokenaway'to reveal interior coir truction "Fig- 2 is a side 'elevational View of the '3 is'fa "fragmentarv sectional elevaview showing the manner in which the lacking armis pivotally connected totherame. i o

l ig. ,-;lis a sectional plan view taken on the lineA of Fig. 1; v f

5 is adetail iew of a part shown in F1g..4;-and f I 1 Fig, 6 is fragmentary sectional v1ew taken on the line "69-6 of Fig. 1.

Refe "ring to these drawings, the handcufli', shown, includes a frame having a body port on 10 and] curved arms 11 extend ng therefrom in approximately semi-circular fashion to form part of the embrasure for the wrist. This embrasure is completed by a cooperating and similarly curved locking arm 12 which is pivoted to and between arms 11, near their free ends, at the point 13. f1 the arms 11 are laterally spaced to permit tree movementof the locking arm 12 therebetween but, in the form illustrated, these arms, near their outer ends have been merged together leaving a solid portion 14L therebetween which prevents complete rotation of the locking arm 12. In the particular form illustrated, the body 10, one arm 11, and the portion 14 are integral and the other arm 11 is riveted to the portion 14 as at 15, and has a lower portion 16, shaped to the contour of body portion 10, which is secured, as by rivets 1'7, to and forms a closure for the latter, as shown in Figs. 2, 4t, and 6. This particular construction, however, is not at all essential and may be varied as desired.

In the body 10, any suitable locking means may be provided to cooperate with arm 12 and hold it in wrist embracing position. Usually such locking means includes a pawl 13, which is slidably mounted in a recess 19 in body and resiliently urged upwardly by a spring 20 to cooperate with ratchet teeth 21 formed on arm 12. The pawl 18, shown, is recessed intermediate its ends at 22 (Figs. 1 and 4:) to receive a pawl de-. pressor 23, which is pivotally mounted on a pin 24; fixed to body 10 and yieldingly urged upwardly by a spring 25. The latter normally holds depressor 23 in the illustrated position, wherein a shoulder 26 thereon abuts a side wall of recess 19 to limit upward movement of the depressor. The latter is adapted to move pawl 18 downwardly by its engagement with a shoulder 27 on the pawl, which, as shown, can also move downwardly iialependently of the depressor. Formed in body 10 is a cylindrical key receiving recess 28 and a pin 29, fixed in a side wall of the body, extends centrally of this recess and is adapted to be received in a cylindrical hole formed in the stem of a suitable key (not shown). Access to recess 28 is had by way of a key hole 30 formed in member 16. The pawl depressor 23 has a part extending into recess 28 and adapted to be engaged and moved by the bit of the key to retract pawl 18.

As a desirable adjunct to this, or any other handcufl lock, means are provided to prevent access of dirt and the like through key hole 30 into the recess 28. Such means in cludes a disc 31, the hub 32 of which is slidable on pin 29. A spring 33 keeps disc 31 tightly pressed against member 16 to close key hole 30. The disc 31 is provided. with a recess 34L to permit it to pass by and clear depressor 23. Adjacent recess 34, the disc is provided with prongs 35 which enter the passageway 36 (connecting recesses 19 and 28) and these prongs, by engagement with the upper and lower walls of this passageway, prevent rotation of the disc. The latter may carry a pin, such as 37, to enter a notch in the bit of the key and member 16 is recessed to receive this pin and allow disc 31 to lie in contig .15 relation with the men'il'ier. The key is pushed into key hole 30 and the disc 31 is forced inwardly beyond depressor 23. Thereafter, the key is turned to actuate the depressor and afterwards, as the key is withdrawn, disc 31 is moved back against member 16.

The invention, according to its broader features, is independent of the particular type and construction of the handcufl' and the locking means and the foregoing description is intended to set forth, as an illustrative example, one of many suitable types of handcuffs in which the invention may be embodied. lVhile the locking arm, as described, is not completely revoluble and the invention is most useful in connection with a locking arm thus arranged, nevertheless the locking arm is preferably jointed or otherwise so constructed as to permit it to be moved bodily away from the locking means or substantially radially. In order that the jointing of the arm may not be taken advantage of at undesired times, the arm and the frame of the handout? are provided with interengaging means to prevent.

radial or approximately radial movement of the arm except when the latter is moved inwardly toward the arms 11 beyond a predetermined point, at which the embrasure atforded by the cooperating arms 11 and 12 is too small to receive any ordinary wrist.

The interengaging means, referred to, may consist of a flange 38 on the locking arm which rides in under an overlying abutment 39, projecting inwardly from body 10, as shown in Fig. 6. Any other suitable means may, however, be provided for this purpose. By reference to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the locking arm, at all positionsin which it is engaged by pawl 18, is held by abutment 39 from moving away tromthe pawl in sub stantially radial directions. It is, however, within the province of the invention to provide for the release of the locking arm at an earlier position and while still engaged with pawl 18. It is also to be noted that al the operation of though arm 12 may be moved in its circularpath until it isdisengaged from pawl 18, it is not free fromjthe 'pawl inthesense that it can be moved to open'position. Arm 12 is not free for reverse movement, nor-is it free for forward movement and but fo'rits jointed connection it could not be releasedexcept bytheuse of't-l'ie key operated means for retracting the pawl.

The'arm 12 is connected to arms 11 by means of a shortlink 40 which is pivoted at one end at L1 to-arm 12. This-link is received in'the forked end of arm 12 and can move relatively thereto through a small angle. A stop 42 on the link limits the relative movement between arm 12 and link 40 in one direction by abutment with the bottom surface 4l3-of the fork. A spring pressed plunger 4A engages in a recess 1-5 in linkaO and normally holds stop 42 against abutment 4:3 and the action ofthis plunger is strong enough so that the linkand arm do not move relatively to one another during moving the arm into engagement with pawl 20. The arm 12 when so moved, will depress pawl 18 rather than cause plunger 4a to yield. A second stop 46' is provided on link 40 to limit, by abutment with surface 43, the amount of yield of plunger M. A stop 47 may be provided on the opposite end of link 40 to abut a shoulder 48 on member 14 and limit the degree of swinging movement of arm 12 in a'counterclockwise direction (as viewed in Fig. 1) I in the same manner as the movement of the arm might be limited by the abutment of its free'en'd with the lower end of member 14.

In operation, assuming the arm 12 to be in the locked position shown by full lines in Fig. 1, it is moved into the dotted line position there shown and, when thus positioned,

flange 38 has moved from under abutment 39. The arm 12 13 then grasped. near. its

pivotal connection ll and pulled upwardly,

the arm being permitted by stop 16 tomove, sufliciently to bring its teeth 21 above the abutment 39. The arm 12 thus be moved in a clockwise direction to open position The invention has beendisclosed herein, in an embodiment at present preferred, for illustrative purposes, but the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.

What I claim is 1. A handcuff, comprising, a frame having a bodyportionand a. fixed arm outwardly extending therefrom. a locking arm adapted to cooperate with said fixed arm to form an embrasure for the wrist and having a toothed segmental portion movablein a curved path in close proximity to said body portion, a key retractible locking device mounted in said body portion to engage the teeth on said locking arm, means connecting said arms so thatthe locking armisifree to swing-in said curved path and to-move bodily away from said 106 ring device-,andmeans for confining the segmental portionof the locking arm to novement in I said curved path except when *it has been moved toward said fixed arm beyond normal wrist embracing position.

2. In a handcuff, a frame, key releasable locking means therein, a locking arm mounted on the frame and movable in one direc- 7:

tion into engagement 'with the locking means, and means whereby said arm after having been engaged with said means and moved into a predetermined position may be moved in a direction approximately normalgto the 'first-nameddirection to free it from said means.

3. In a handcufi, a frame, key releasable locking means therein, a locking arm pivoted to the frame and adapted to be moved in an arcuate path into engagement with said when the arm is moved to a predetermined position.

4. In a handcutf, a frame, key releasable locking means therein, a locking arm mounted on the frame and adapted to move in one path into engagement with said means, means permitting relative movementbetween said locking means and arm in a direction suchasto cause their disengagement, and means for restraining such relative movement after engagement of said arm and locking means until the arm has been moved in said path to a predetermined position.

-5. In a handcuff, a frame, a toothed looking arm pivoted thereto for swinging movement in a curved path, locking means-in said frame including a member to succes- 6; In a handc'uff, a rigid frame, a locking" arm provided with teeth, a link pivotally connected to said arm and to said frame, locking means 1n theframe includinga member engageablewith said teeth, and inter-en gaglngdevices on said frame and arm to prevent relative movementof said arm and link 1 while the arm is engaged with said locking arm provided with teeth, a. link' pivotally connected to said arm and to said frame, locking means in the frame including a member engageable with said teeth, and interengaging devices on said frame and arm to prevent relative movement of said arm and link except at certain positions of said arm.

8. In a handcuff, a frame, a locking arm provided with teeth, a link pivotally connecting said arm and frame, means acting on said arm and link and tending to restrain relative movement thereof, locking means in the frame including a member engageable with said teeth, and interengaging devices on said frame and arm to prevent relative movement of said arm and link after said arm and locking means have been engaged and until said arm has been moved to a predetermined position.

9. In a handcuff, a frame, locking means carried thereby, a link pivotally connected to said frame, a locking arm pivotally connected to said link, means for limiting the degree of relative movement between said link and arm, resilient means for resisting said relative movement, and interengaging devices on said frame and arm to hold the latter when in certain positions against disengagement from the locking means.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

JOHN J. MURPHY. 

